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A SECOND POLICE officer has been found with traces of the Novichok nerve agent in his system following the Salisbury attack last year, Met Police have confirmed.
The officer from Wiltshire Police, who does not wish to be identified, was involved in the response to the poisoning of Sergei and Yulia Skripal.
The attempted assassination the Skripals was done using a Soviet-era nerve agent Novichok on 4 March 2018.
Skripal and his daughter Yulia were found last year slumped unconscious on a park bench in the centre of the quiet cathedral city.
The attack also led to the death of a British woman, Dawn Sturgess, who came into contact with the Novichok, as well as injuring several others including a policeman.
Met Police have confirmed today that the officer displayed signs at the time of the incident that indicated exposure to a very small amount of Novichok. The officer received appropriate medical treatment for this at the time and returned to duties shortly afterwards, according to police.
Forensic examination of the officer’s blood sample that was taken in March 2018 has since been carried out by scientists on behalf of the investigation team.
The forensic test – which uses a different method to that used to assess the clinic effects of nerve agent poisoning – has now given detectives confirmation that traces of Novichok were in the blood sample.
The officer in question has been informed and continues to receive support from Wiltshire Police along with other officers and staff affected by the events in Salisbury and Amesbury last year.
Others affected
The officer is the fourth person to be confirmed through forensic testing as a victim of the initial Salisbury attack.
The higher levels of exposure to Novichok suffered by the Skripals and Detective Sergeant Nick Bailey led to them falling critically or seriously ill.
Sturgess and Rowley also suffered high levels of exposure to Novichok following the incident in Amesbury in June 2018. Sturgess died some days later, while Rowley also became critically ill.
Detectives have also contacted a small number of other individuals whose blood samples were taken at the time, to seek their consent for forensic analysis to be carried out on the samples.
There is no need for anyone who has not been contacted by police at this time to take any action, Met Police said.
“The purpose of any such test is to assist the criminal investigation, and confirm whether there are any traces of Novichok in the blood samples, therefore forensically identifying any further victims of the attack,” police said in a statement today.
“The forensic tests, however, do not have any health implications for either those individuals or the wider public. As the chief medical officer has previously stated, anyone who may have been exposed to short-term or one-off contact with low levels of Novichok and who has not suffered an obvious illness, is not at risk of any long-term health problems and this remains the same,” police said.
Public health experts have also confirmed that there is no change to the overall public health risk, which remains low.
Anyone who has any concerns, however, can contact the NHS by calling 111.
Wanted
Two men known as Alexander Petrov and Ruslan Boshirov remain wanted by UK police.
The Crown Prosecution Service authorised charges against the pair, linked to the attack of the Skripals and Detective Sergeant Nick Bailey.
Met Police believe they were using aliases. A European Arrest Warrant and Interpol Red Notices remain in circulation for the two men.
Police are continuing to appeal to the public for any information regarding the two men while they were in the UK between 2 March and 4 March 2018.
Anyone who knows them or saw them is being asked to call police in confidence on 0800 789 321 or email salisbury2018@met.police.uk.
“The investigation remains ongoing, and there are parts of the picture that we are continuing to piece together,” police said.
“We continue to urge anyone who has information that they have not yet passed to police to do so.”
In particular, police are keen to hear from anyone who may have seen the counterfeit ‘Nina Ricci’ perfume box or bottle that was recovered from Charlie Rowley’s address in July 2018.
Police cannot account for the whereabouts of the bottle, nozzle or box between the attack on the Skripals on 4 March 2018 and when Charlie Rowley said he found it on 27 June 2018.
Anyone who saw the pink box or glass bottle during this time is asked to contact police through the phone number or email address above.
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Bet when this poor copper signed up to join he never thought he’d be dealing with Russian chemical weapons in his bloodstream this all sounds like the most batshit episode of midsummer murders
@Jake Kelly: And yet it happened.
@Arch Angel: yes but all I’m saying is he never had a seminar at the academy about what to do when you accidentally get poisoned by a Russian spy in the least likely place to have it happen
Appears the original tests checked for known nerve agents, but early in the investigation they didn’t know it was Novichok-5. There’s several Novichoks, no. 5 is reportedly the most toxic and it’s suspected to be the version used.
The precise chemical properties of Novichok-5 was not known in the West until after the Salisbury attack and especially after the later poisoning of Charly Rowley and Dawn Sturges when an intact bottle of the chemical was found (this photo of the bottle was released by the police – https://imgur.com/a/DFbALU4). So they likely retested frozen blood samples of the second police officer and found traces of Novichok-5.
The second police officer likely also went to Sergei Skripal’s house after he and his daughter were found collapsed at The Maltings shopping area in Salisbury. Police didn’t initially know who they were. So Detective Sargent Nick Bailey, who arrived at The Maltings and initially help them, used Sergei’s front door keys to enter his house, about 6.30pm to look for further identification. However, Novichok-5 was smeared on the front door handle, and even though Detective Sargent Bailey was wearing his police issue leather gloves, he was near fatally contaminated. He first felt unwell at Sergei’s house and went home, he collapsed at his own home and an ambulance was called.
I think the assassins intended to poison Sergei when he was arriving home in the evening, that he’d collapse in his house without anyone to help him. However, Sergei and Julia had visited their wife’s/mother’s grave early in the morning and came home around 10.30am, and were in the house when around 12.05-12.15pm an assassin smeared the front door handle with Novichok-5, likely watched his colleague who’s job was to provide an antidote if they contaminated themself.
Sergei and Julia left the house just after 12.25pm, Sergei’s car was spotted leaving his cul-de-sac on a CCTV camera fitted on a neighbour’s house at 12.27pm. That’s when they were contaminated. Also, it’s important to understand that the effects of nerve agent exposure is delayed by up to several hours if they victims are exposed via skin contact.
As for the bottle of Novichok-5 found months later by Charlie Rowley, an ex-homeless person who liked to look in bins for things to sell. That bottle was likely dumped by an unknown assassin team who followed Julia and Sergei around Salisbury, wondering if the first dose was a dud. Charlie and Dawn visited Queen Elizabeth Gardens a few hundred metres from The Maltings, Charlie might have found the bottle in a bin near there. The next day he gave Dawn the bottle of “Nina Ricci perfume” that he found.
Note: Names removed to conform to the Journal’s rules regarding an ongoing criminal investigation.
@David Jordan:
1/ Thats certainly one version.. Your last paragraph though presumes that the perfume bottle was in the bin for some months though the bins would be cleaned weekly at least.. Doesnt quite round the circle ..
2/ “The precise chemical properties of Novichok-5 was not known in the West until after the Salisbury attack” Actually it was and the new Radiological and chemical warfare suits had to be changed in the 1980`s (approx) when they got the basic formula. Novichik had the ability to get through the old NATO NBCW suits and was incredibly lethal.
3/ “Also, it’s important to understand that the effects of nerve agent exposure is delayed by up to several hours if they victims are exposed via skin contact.”
The police had a quicker adverse reaction through touch (The Novichok predictably, even went through the gloves)
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